The Spirit and the Word

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 ESV

Worship of God cannot be detached from engagement in His Word. It is through His revealed Word that we express proper worship. It is through God’s Word that we experience the Spirit’s convicting power. We can be full of emotion and movements when we claim we are worshipping God but when there is no submission to the Holy Spirit, we are offering an empty worship. When we do not yield to the Holy Spirit, we are stifling Him. We are suppressing His work within that we become arrogant thinking that we can live the Christian life without the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is also the reason why we easily get trapped by false teachings. Satan’s goal is to deceive us by providing counterfeit message. So, when we are not guided by His Word and we are not yielding to the Holy Spirit, we can easily be deceived. We should not restrain the Spirit’s working for this will lead to the weakening of our Christian life. Paul’s admonition is to “test everything that is said.” We must have a discerning spirit so we can offer God the proper worship He deserves. “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1). We have to reject teachings that will ensnare us. Many have been led astray because they have not yielded to the Spirit’s leading. We must not quench the fire of the Spirit instead let us continue to stir up the life that the Spirit provides. “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you” (2 Timothy 1:6). We need to hold on to the truth revealed to us through God’s Word. Evil is out there to destroy us so we should not flirt with it. Let us have the Word of God guide us in our Christian walk and allow the Spirit to teach us. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13).

Blessings,